


Be My Baby.

by brooklynbis



Series: Harry's Adventures With 'The Pissing Evil'. [5]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Blood Tests, Chronic Illness, Established Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson, Injections, Larry Stylinson Is Real, M/M, Protective!Louis, Sick!Harry, Sickfic, Worried!Liam, caring!louis, diabetic!harry, diabetic!harry au, felt like that was relevant tbf, high blood sugars, louis is a great boyfriend, management are shite but when aren't they, set in like 2013, type one diabetes, worried!Zayn, worried!louis, worried!niall, worried!paul, ziam is hinted at
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-19
Updated: 2019-01-19
Packaged: 2019-10-12 23:54:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,515
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17477357
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brooklynbis/pseuds/brooklynbis
Summary: I miss you," He replied bluntly, and Louis could hear the exhaustion in his voice. His best guess was that Harry hadn't slept since he had left early that morning."I miss you too.""Want you to come home, Lou," Harry whined, and Louis knew that in any other scenario, he most definitely wouldn't whine. But Harry loved and trusted Louis like nobody else. He had told him shortly after they moved in together that he basically has to be coddled to get him to do anything when he's high, that he gets clingy as hell, and he complains a lot. Louis never minds, finds it endearing even if his love is suffering."I know honey, I'm trying to get through this as quickly as I can," Louis soothed, sighing when he heard Harry take some deep breaths, as if he were trying to hold back tears."I-I know, it's not y-your fault. I just wish things weren't so c-crap."___________________________AKA Harry's bloods are high, and all he really wants is Louis.





	Be My Baby.

**Author's Note:**

> this fic can link to part one (Is It Fair, Or Is It Fate?) and part two (A Beacon On The Bay). It is not essential to read those to understand this though.
> 
> again, this is mainly based off my own experience here (very heavily in fact). all systems used will be british as I'm from the UK, hopefully that doesn't get too confusing for anyone. I essentially love pushing my own feelings and situations onto characters since I cannot get this comfort irl lmao.
> 
> trigger warnings : mentions of blood tests and injections   
> title from 'Look After You' by The Fray
> 
> comments, feedback and kudos would be appreciated if you enjoyed, plus any prompts which you can leave in the comments or in my tumblr ask box @/brooklynbis

Harry startled awake, blearily looking at the clock and sighing when he realised it was 2am. He knew they were fully booked for the next day (or well, today really) and he knew he needed to sleep. 

But after 8 years of living with this damned condition, his body knew (sometimes) when his bloods were wrong. And he couldn't ignore that. 

He rubbed a hand across his face as he carefully slipped out of Louis' arms, replacing his body with a pillow to reduce his chances of waking before grabbing his small bag from the bedside table and leaving the room without a peep. 

Once he was downstairs, with the glass doors pulled shut, he finally exhaled, flipping on the light switch as he sat down on a stool and quickly did what he was sure he could do in his sleep. 

He groaned slightly to himself when he read the machine. 32.4. He knew he had to check his ketone levels if he was that high, so he quickly found that machine and strips in the cupboard, trying to be as quiet as possible. Louis was much more organised with Harry's supplies than he himself was, he'd be able to put his hand right on the device. 

He was quick to dispose of both bloodied strips once the meter told him his ketones were 2.1. He was quick to give a large dose of insulin, hissing when it stung more than it usually did, before making a cup of tea, cringing at how loud the kettle sounded in the silent house. 

Thankfully, Louis made no sign of having woke from the disturbance, so he made his tea milkier than usual before sitting down on a stool in just his boxers, not bothering to retrieve a blanket from the living room. 

______________

"Haz? Why are you up so early?" Louis mumbled as he stumbled into the kitchen at 5:30, rubbing his eyes sleepily, and all Harry wanted to do was to pick him up and bundle him back up into bed. Harry looked up from his phone, where he had been scrolling and reading news stories for three hours, an empty cold mug sat in front of him. He hadn't dared make another cup of tea, rather emptying cola cans from the fridge into glasses to drink throughout the night. 

None of it satisfied his thirst. 

"Couldn't sleep," He said back quietly as Louis came and hovered over him, frowning when he looked at him properly. 

"How come you couldn't sleep?" He asked. He knew something was wrong in terms of his diabetes. He'd become good at spotting the signs, sometimes spotting them before Harry even noticed. 

"'M high. Figured there wasn't much point in trying to sleep," Harry shrugged as Louis gently rubbed his cold shoulders. 

"How high are you?"

"As of half an hour ago, I'm still 31.9. Ketones are 2.0," he said, knowing that would be Louis' next question. He just sighed, before gently spinning Harry around on his stool so they were facing each other. 

"C'mon, you need some sleep, I'm gonna try and get us out of the interviews today. You look knackered babes," Louis said as Harry pouted. 

"That's not very nice, I'd say I look very handsome like this," he said, striking what Louis assumed was a model pose, making both of them giggle. 

"Yes you do, my love. But you're not allowed to exercise when your ketones are that high," Louis said, winking and laughing as Harry groaned, abandoning his glass as Louis grabbed his testing kit and phone, slowly leading them back to the dark bedroom. 

"Sleep, my angel. I'll keep an eye on your bloods," Louis murmured once they were settled back in bed, Harry half sprawled over Louis' body, who was sitting up slightly to keep himself awake. He felt fairly rested all things considered, but Harry needed some sleep in case he failed to get them out of today's events. 

_______________________

Harry woke up to an empty bed, with very slight lingering warmth from where Louis' body was. 

"Lou?" Harry called, as he heard a noise from the bathroom, reassuring Harry that he was still in the house. He waited patiently, sitting up in the bed and resting his head on his tucked up knees, head angled towards the door so he could see when Louis returned. He smiled sleepily when he saw Louis enter, before frowning when he noticed he was fully dressed in skinny jeans, a shirt and his shoes, sunglasses balanced on top of his styled hair. 

"I thought we had today off? You should've woken me, we're gonna be late-" Harry said, suddenly getting out of bed, but Louis stopped him before he got too far. 

"You're not going anywhere, love. You have the day off, at least until the concert tonight," Louis reassured him, reaching a hand up to feel Harry's still too hot forehead. 

"But what about you?" Harry asked quietly as Louis just sighed. 

"They wouldn't let me stay, saying it would be 'too suspicious'. Bullshit," Louis muttered as Harry sighed, hugging Louis from where he stood half naked. 

"I don't want you to go, wanna cuddle," Harry murmured into Louis' shoulder. 

"I know love, but they didn't give me a choice. They'll be fucked if they're expecting me to look happy," Louis replied, making Harry smile before he pulled away slightly. 

"Do you have time to cuddle before you leave?" Harry asked, as Louis smiled and nodded, pressing a kiss to his cheek softly. 

"I'll always have time to cuddle with you."

______________________

"Louis! Get your act together, people will start getting suspicious! Get a damn smile on your face!" One of the management team called to him from behind set as he scowled, getting up from the stool and mindlessly following the other three boys. He checked his phone to see if there were any texts from Harry, frowning when there weren't any. 

"Heard anything?" Zayn asked as he fell back into step with Louis, referring to the phone that Louis was refreshing. 

"Nope. Wouldn't surprise me if management told him not to bother me," Louis grumbled, pocketing the phone as they exited the building through a back door, quickly getting bundled into a van before anybody could see them. 

"One day, I'm gonna punch whoever is holding the two of you back like this," Zayn replied from where he was sat beside him, Niall and Liam sat in the row behind him. 

After that, Louis didn't really speak. None of the boys took it personally, but they knew when separated, Harry and Louis were both like separate people. No, it wasn't because they couldn't exist without the other, but usually when they were separated, it was due to some management bullshit about having to hide, and that pissed them both off more than anything else. 

Louis was quick to react when he saw Harry's contact pop up on his phone, quickly swiping to accept the call. 

"Hey, love. How are you feeling?" Louis asked, concern lacing his tone. He was thankful that none of the boys decided to stop their conversations to listen in, only lowering their volume slightly. 

"Like crap. I miss you," He replied bluntly, and Louis could hear the exhaustion in his voice. His best guess was that Harry hadn't slept since he had left early that morning. 

"I miss you too. What are your bloods now? Coming down any?"

There was a pause before he replied, "...I haven't done them since you left, can't be fucked," He admitted as Louis sighed, closing his eyes. 

"Can you do them now, lovely? For me?" He asked, waiting patiently as he heard Harry shuffling around. 

"28.4. Want you to come home, Lou," Harry whined, and Louis knew that in any other scenario, he most definitely wouldn't whine. But Harry loved and trusted Louis like nobody else. He had told him shortly after they moved in together that he basically has to be coddled to get him to do anything when he's high, that he gets clingy as hell, and he complains a lot. Louis never minds, finds it endearing even if his love is suffering. 

"I know honey, I'm trying to get through this as quickly as I can," Louis soothed, sighing when he heard Harry take some deep breaths, as if he were trying to hold back tears. He also got overly emotional when his bloods were wrong, but again, Louis never minded. 

"I-I know, it's not y-your fault. I just wish things weren't so c-crap," He sniffled, and in that second, Louis made a decision. 

"Me too. Give me a second, love, yeah?" Louis asked as Harry sniffed a confirmation that he heard him before he pressed hold on the call and turned around to see everyone looking at him. 

"Was he crying?" Liam asked in concern, having been the closest to the phone, so most likely to overhear what Harry was saying. 

"Yeah. He gets emotional when I'm not around and he's high," Louis sighed, rubbing his temples as Paul's frown softened, before muttering something to the driver and they began to move again. 

"I just wish management weren't so shit. It honestly surprised me they let him cancel, at least if he were here, he'd be with me and I wouldn't be worrying about him," Louis sighed in frustration as Zayn placed a comforting hand on his shoulder . 

"The amount of times they've made him do interviews through it, surprised me too," Niall commented. 

"Maybe they just wanted an excuse to split the two of you up. I think they're still hoping you'll split up, so they don't have to go to the hassle of so many stunts," Liam sighed as Louis frowned, looking up. 

"They don't have to bother with fucking stunts! Just let us be! I'm not being funny, but there is no fucking way they're going to get between us, they can fuck off," Louis seethed as Zayn tried to rub his shoulder to calm him down. He knew it was pointless. He knew the only person who could calm him down properly was Harry. 

That's why they all frowned when the car pulled to a stop outside of Louis and Harry's apartment block. Paul twisted around in his seat to face Louis. 

"Go to him. He wants you, and you want him. He's ill, and needs taking care of, and he'll only accept it from you, so go and take care of him. Let me know if you're gonna make it to the show tonight, alright? I'll take the brunt of management," he offered, as Louis' face softened, unclipping his seatbelt and awkwardly hugging Paul's shoulders over the seat. 

"Thank you. Don't let yourself get in too much shit for us, I'll make sure I'm at least there tonight," he promised before hopping out of the vehicle and basically sprinting up the many flights of stairs to the penthouse they had at the top. 

He quietly unlocked the door in hopes that Harry had fallen asleep, realising he'd left Harry on hold this whole time. He felt shit for it. 

He didn't bother calling out to the younger boy, instead making a beeline for their bedroom after toeing off his shoes and leaving his sunglasses on the table in the hallway. 

He pushed open the door quietly, his heart breaking slightly when he saw Harry silently crying into his knees. He didn't make his presence known until he gently drew the curtains open, flooding the room with sunlight and warmth. It made Harry jump slightly, looking up from his knees in confusion when he recognised Louis. 

"You're back?" he asked timidly as Louis nodded in confirmation, sitting on the edge of the bed, and Harry didn't wait for any verbal confirmation before throwing himself into Louis' lap, wrapping his arms tightly around Louis' neck as if he were afraid to let him go. Louis could feel his tears slowly soaking into the shoulder of his shirt as he wrapped his arms tightly around his boyfriend, gently rocking his body back and forth. He sat with him in silence for a couple of minutes, just giving some comforting murmurs in his ears.

"Did you get out new insulin to give? Yours might've expired or something," Louis suggested quietly, almost whispering as Harry shook his head, now silent as he rested his head on Louis' shoulder, showing no sign of letting go of his tight grip anytime soon. 

"I'll go and get you some so we can warm it up and give it to you, yeah?" 

When Louis tried to shift Harry so he could get up and change the insulin in Harry's pen, Harry just gripped tighter. 

"I'll be back in a second baby, how about you go and pick something for us to watch to pass the time, huh?" Louis asked as Harry sighed and nodded, pecking Louis' lips softly before letting him go. With all of the energy he had left in him, he got up from the bed to grab the remote to their TV, flicking through their Netflix until he found Brooklyn Nine Nine, his go to 'pass-the-time' show. He loaded a random episode of it, knowing he and Louis had watched the whole thing many times. 

When Louis returned from the kitchen, he was holding two mugs of tea, which he was quick to place down on the table before grabbing the small vial of insulin from his jeans pocket. He started rolling it between his palms to warm it up as he got into the bed beside Harry, letting him cuddle up beside him as he put his testing kit on Louis' lap, knowing it was better to let him remember to deal with that. He had reassured him many times that he didn't mind, that he'd do whatever he could to make Harry feel better. 

They watched one episode of the show before Louis silently changed the insulin in the pen over, preparing a needle before offering it to Harry. 

"Want me to do it?" he offered as Harry nodded, not wanting to move. He felt Louis shift under him before gently grabbing the arm that wasn't tucked into Louis' side. 

"I'm so sorry my lovely," Louis murmured as Harry whimpered slightly when the needle and the still slightly cold insulin went into his arm. 

"I know it hurts, only a few more seconds," Louis whispered to him, rubbing a hand on his back before he removed the needle, capping it and leaving it on his bedside table. 

Louis decided not to tell Harry for a minute about his promise to turn up for the concert tonight. He knew that Harry wouldn't be happy at him leaving again, especially if he was still high, but he knew Paul would be getting some shit for letting him skip interviews now. It was the least he could do. 

The next time he looked down to see which episode Harry wanted to select next, his boyfriend was dozing in his lap, mouth slightly open as he slept, looking peaceful despite the tear tracks down his cheeks, and his fruity smelling breath. 

Louis loved him regardless. 

____________________________

"You sure you wanna do this? You can just sit back here and watch us," Louis offered again just before they were about to go on stage as Harry shook his head, adjusting his earpiece as he was given his mic. Thankfully, the new insulin had kicked in and after a few hours and a couple of injections, Harry's bloods were almost back in range. 

Yes, he still felt exhausted, and he knew it would take his body a couple of days to recover from a high that bad, but he could do the show so that was all that mattered. 

"I'm fine, Lou. Just wanna go bed once we're done here, just a little warning," Harry chuckled as he adjusted the band holding his curls back. 

"You know I wouldn't say no. Just let me know if you want a break, okay? I love you," Louis said as Harry grinned, pulling his boyfriend in for a sweet kiss (and no, Louis totally didn't have to get on his tiptoes.) before they got separated to do the show. 

______________________

"Y'know, I genuinely wasn't expecting him to conk out this early," Zayn chuckled from his seat, motioning to Harry sat beside him. They were all in the same seats as earlier that day, except Harry was now occupying the middle seat beside Louis. By the time the car had started moving, Harry had passed out, head leaning on Louis' shoulder and arm wrapped lightly around his stomach. 

"I don't think he's ever shown his exhaustion so openly before, that's for certain," Louis chuckled as he brushed a loose curl away from Harry's face, making him mumble a bit in his sleep. 

"Okay, so since Harry and Louis' flat is closest, we're going to drop them off and escort them in first, just in case. Then you three will be afterwards," Paul informed them without turning around from the front seat. They all hummed agreements before the car fell into quietness, the radio faintly playing some 80s song but all were keeping quiet after the loud arena, plus nobody wanted to disturb the sleep Harry clearly needed. 

It didn't take them long to arrive to their flat as Louis gently shook Harry so he was awake enough to walk. If he had been a bit smaller, Louis would've carried him in, but he simply couldn't, so he didn't attempt it. 

"I don't think there's anyone around so we should be fine without security. Have a good night, lads," Louis said as he opened the door, tugging Harry out after him before wrapping an arm around him and leading him to the elevator. Neither spoke a word until they got into their apartment and kicked off their shoes. 

"Sleepy time," Harry mumbled, reminding Louis of the youngest set of twins when they were tired. It was adorable. 

"Yeah, sleepy time Haz," Louis agreed with a soft smile on his face as he followed Harry to their bedroom. When they got there, Harry didn't even bother flicking on any lights in the dark room as he flopped onto the bed and Louis chuckled. 

"C'mon Haz, you at least need to take your clothes off," Louis encouraged as Harry groaned from where his face was smushed into the bed. 

"Too tired for sex," He mumbled, making Louis laugh louder. 

"Yes, but you can't sleep in your jeans, can you?" Louis teased as Harry nodded. In this time, Louis had changed his own clothes and flicked on some lamps, drawing the curtains across the big windows before turning to see that Harry still hadn't moved, and was verging on sleep. 

Louis sighed, a fond smile on his face as he hauled his boyfriend into a sitting position, ignoring his mumbled complaints as he pulled the shirt over his head before struggling to get his jeans off. With a lot of effort, and one too many innuendos from Harry, he had finally gotten Harry into an acceptable state for sleep. 

"Lou, cuddle," Harry demanded with a sleepy grin on his face as his cheek hit his pillow, eyes already shut. 

"Gimme a minute babe, I just wanna test you first," Louis called as he retrieved the testing kit from where Harry had dropped it in the hallway. 

"No test," Harry mumbled with a frown now on his face as Louis sat on the bed beside him, unzipping the case and preparing the meter. As Louis went to take Harry's finger to draw blood from, he tucked both of his hands away as Louis sighed. 

"Hazza, the quicker I do this, the quicker we can cuddle," He suggested, knowing it wouldn't take much for him to surrender in his half asleep state. Harry peeked one eye open to check Louis wasn't lying, and when he was met with Louis' fond smile, he nodded with a smile, reluctantly giving Louis his hand. 

"You're in range now baby," Louis whispered once he had turned off the machine, not getting more than a grunt from Harry in response. 

"Cuddle," He mumbled, and Louis was lucky to recognise the word. 

"Yes, yes, alright," He said, but he couldn't stop his love seeping into his words as he laid down in the bed and made himself comfortable, Harry wrapped up in his arms, head on his chest as he ran his hands through Harry's hair softly. 

"Love you," Harry just about made out before he fell asleep, breathing slowing down. 

"Love you too my angel," Louis whispered, pressing a firm kiss to his forehead. 

Yes, Harry's diabetes was hard work, for both of them. He'd love to just take away all of Harry's pain, have the condition for him so he didn't have to, anything to make it easier for him. 

They made it work though, and that was all that mattered.


End file.
